Director-General of the Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT), Kwasi Afreh Biney, has disclosed that Labadi Beach Hotel paid the Trust GH¢17.8 million in dividends and is expected to deliver an even bigger payout this year.

Speaking on Joy News’ PM Express Business Edition recently, Mr Afreh Biney described Labadi Beach Hotel as one of SSNIT’s strongest investments and dismissed suggestions that the Trust may consider selling or bringing in a strategic investor for the property.

“Let me assure the people of Ghana that we will not sell any of our hotel investments,” he said.

Providing details on the performance of Labadi Beach Hotel, he said the facility has consistently generated returns for SSNIT.

“Labadi Beach Hotel is one of our best investments. In fact, they have consistently paid dividends year in and year out. Last year alone, based on 2024 numbers, they paid us ¢17.8 million in dividends for the year 2024, but they paid it last year.”

According to him, shareholders should expect a larger dividend payment once the hotel’s accounts are audited.

“This year we expect the dividend to be paid by Labadi to be higher once their accounts are audited to be higher than they paid last year.”

He attributed that optimism to the hotel’s strong profitability.

“Last year they made a PBT in excess of ¢67 million with a profit after tax of in excess of 50 million, so clearly if you go by their dividend payout ratio of 40%, they will pay higher than they did the previous year.”

Mr Afreh Biney stressed that there are currently no discussions about bringing in a strategic investor for Labadi Beach Hotel.

“There is no, absolutely no conversation anywhere about Labadi Beach Hotel. Absolutely, why hotel? When Labadi can even go to a bank today and borrow, because Labadi has one of the best balance sheets.”

He argued that the hotel is financially strong enough to raise funds independently if needed.

“So, even if they decide not to come to SSNIT for funds and decide to go to the financial market, they will be successful. If you make a decision to list Labadi Beach Hotel on the stock exchange today, they will be successful.”

Rather than considering divestment, he revealed that discussions are underway to expand the hotel’s capacity.

“To the contrary, we are actually engaging Labadi on expanding Labadi, the number of rooms that Labadi has. There are conversations today to expand Labadi.”

While Labadi continues to perform strongly, Mr Afreh Biney acknowledged that hotels under the Golden Beach Group, including La Palm, Elmina and Busua, face challenges.

He said SSNIT has engaged consultants to develop a five-year turnaround blueprint and is currently evaluating bids.

Despite the challenges, he noted that some early interventions are already yielding results.

“La Palm last year, for the first time in fact, we don’t even remember the last time La Palm made a profit, made a profit. It may be small, ¢1.8 million, but at least bigger things start with humble beginnings.”

He maintained that SSNIT remains committed to protecting contributors’ funds while supporting businesses that demonstrate strong performance.

“We would make sure that we protect the workers’ funds that we hold in trust,” he said.